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Food
Interview With Owner
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Whoever said you can't time travel clearly has not stumbled upon Jess's Instagram page, "Weird Old Food." With a hefty collection of vintage cookbooks at her fingertips, Jess takes us way back, serving up photos of rather interesting recipes that might make you go, "Wait, people actually ate that?"
The charm of "Weird Old Food" lies in the mystery, with Jess sharing just enough to keep her followers intrigued and staying tuned for more. Each post reveals a scanned snapshot of a dish from the vintage cookbooks she owns, and the bare essentials—just the name of the dish, the year, and the cookbook it's pulled from. However, looking past all that, this page isn't just about the food itself, rather it’s a collection of the strange and quirky culinary trends of the past.
Also, don't forget to scroll down and check out an interview with Jess, the owner of the 'Weird Old Food' page!
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#1
Shrimp Cucumber Aspic (Southern Living 1983 Annual Recipes)
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SCamp SCamp Community Member Follow
🤢 anything aspic, oh god
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Bored Panda reached out to Jess, the curator of the "Weird Old Food" Instagram page. As you might've guessed, Jess's unique hobby involves exploring vintage cookbooks and sharing particularly unusual or intriguing recipes with her audience. When asked about how her interest in vintage cookbooks began, Jess shared, "I have always loved paging through cookbooks. I was very interested in vintage illustrations and I began collecting vintage cookbooks that had beautiful mid-century line illustrations. Now I collect any books from 1990 or earlier." The oldest books in her collection date back to the late 1800s.
#2
Salmon In Bladder Of Pork (Loving French Cuisine, 1995)
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Mavis Mavis Community Member Follow
Early footballs were made from inflated pigs bladder. Why you would want to cook your dinner in one I have no idea.
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#3
Ham Buffet Mold (Campbell’s Great Restaurant Cookbook, U.s.a.)
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Mavis Mavis Community Member Follow
Where's the ham?
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Regarding a recipe that genuinely surprised her, she revealed a peculiar one, 'Salmon in Bladder of Pork' (also mentioned in the post) from the book 'Loving French Cuisine, 1995'. She commented, "It’s from the nineties, which is very modern for my collection, but the photography is horrifying. It looks so anatomical."
#4
Rice And Salmon Mould (Gelatine Home Cooking Secrets, 1975)
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Bibmibap Bibmibap Community Member Follow
🤢🤢🤢🤢
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#5
Ducklings Afloat On A Pond Cake (The Wilton Way Of Cake Decorating, 1979)
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Bibmibap Bibmibap Community Member Follow
This one's cute.
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The most challenging dishes in her collection, she explained, come from classic French cuisine. She mentioned recipes such as "Galantine of Duck" from "Classic French Cooking, 1971", and "Chicken in Chaud-Froid Sauce" from "The Creative Cooking Course, 1975", admitting, "As a home chef I wouldn’t ever attempt those... I don’t see myself ever attempting chaud-froid sauce."
#6
Molded Egg Salad (Betty Crocker’s Smart Cook, 1988)
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SCamp SCamp Community Member Follow
What in the 7 hells?!
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#7
Spaghetti Ring Florentine (Better Homes And Gardens 1988 Best-Recipes Yearbook)
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SCamp SCamp Community Member Follow
What?? But why?
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Discussing her process for selecting which recipe to feature next on "Weird Old Food", Jess noted, "My process is very casual. When I’m looking through my collection and I see something odd or interesting I take a photo of it... My photo library looks wild- old cookbook pictures, cat pictures, and pictures of my niece and nephew. It’s mostly food pics though." She picks something that amuses her at that moment, demonstrating a light-hearted and spontaneous approach to her unique hobby.
#8
Chutney Aspic (Trader Vic’s Pacific Island Cookbook, 1968)
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ChexmyLicks/egg ChexmyLicks/egg Community Member Follow
what in the maleficent diarrhea is this
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#9
Shrimps In Aspic (Grand Diplome Cooking Course, Volume 8, 1972)
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David Paterson David Paterson Community Member Follow
There had to be an "aspic" one, didn't there.
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#10
Soup On The Rocks (Campbell’s Soup Ad, 1956)
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Raven Sheridan Raven Sheridan Community Member Follow
🤮
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#11
Sugar Cube Castle (Holiday Cookies, Sweets, Appetizers And Meals, 1986)
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David Paterson David Paterson Community Member Follow
That'd be fun. How many battalions do you intend to serve with that?
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#12
Frankfurter Crown With Kraut (34 Selected Recipes For Delicious Dishes And Dinners With Kraut)
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David Paterson David Paterson Community Member Follow
Frankfurts and sauerkraut. Could you get more basic.
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#13
Stuffed Flank-Steak Roll (Time Life Illustrated Library Of Cooking: Appetizers, Beef, Breads And Rolls, Breakfast Quick Breads, 1969)
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Hippopotamuses Hippopotamuses Community Member Follow
I had a nightmare, where I was being chased (very slowly) by one of these.
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#14
Piped Clown (The Wilton Way Of Cake Decorating, 1979)
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Mavis Mavis Community Member Follow
At least put some pants on.
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#15
Lemon Dill Shrimp Mold (Wilton Entertaining Appetizers To Desserts, 1994)
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Bibmibap Bibmibap Community Member Follow
I might eat this despite its looks. All listed ingredients are some of my faves.
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#16
Lobster Salad Heligoland (Gourmet’s Old Vienna Cookbook, 1959)
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Tiny Dancer Tiny Dancer Community Member Follow
We're gonna need a banana here, people. Either those are teeny tiny lobsters or the rest of the meal is gigantic!
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#17
Shrimp Tree With Curry Sauce (Great Recipes Of The World)
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coppertopped panda coppertopped panda Community Member Follow
It looks dumb, but I would definitely try it.
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#18
Whole Fish In Aspic (Gelatine Home Cooking Secrets, 1975)
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JoMeBee JoMeBee Community Member Follow
WtF is aspic and what's the obsession with embalmed fish?!?
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#19
Lettuce-Wrapped And Stuffed Fillets Of Fish (Victory Garden Cookbook, 1982)
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Themoonprincess Themoonprincess Community Member Follow
Looks like linen wrapped mummy
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#20
Fruit-Salad Linguine (Better Homes And Gardens Pasta, 1983)
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Annik Perrot Annik Perrot Community Member Follow
Nope!
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#21
Rag Doll Cake (The Wilton Yearbook Of Cake Decorating, 1978)
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rs_adahl1971 rs_adahl1971 Community Member Follow
The tree is much better
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#22
Sea Dream (Joys Of Jello, 1963)
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elijo sintetico elijo sintetico Community Member Follow
Sea nightmare
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#23
Brain Salad With Cream Dressing (The Good Cook Salads, 1980)
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Ample Aardvark Ample Aardvark Community Member
My mum actually like boiled cow brains. Nothing like coming back from school and see a brain in a pyrex bowl in the fridge. No wonder old horror movies never scared me.
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#24
Golden Gate Saucy Burgers With Spaghetti Topping (Family Circle Illustrated Library Of Cooking Volume 3, 1972)
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rs_adahl1971 rs_adahl1971 Community Member Follow
How are you even supposed to eat that thing?
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#25
Cold Glazed Salmon (Gourmet Magazine, 1964)
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Mavis Mavis Community Member Follow
Dali would be proud of this.
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#26
Hard Sauce Clowns (How To Have The Most Fun With Cake Mixes)
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Binx Binx Community Member Follow
What's with SOOO many scary clown cakes??
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#27
Summer Day Salad (Holiday Cooking For Kids, 1982)
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Brittania Kelli Brittania Kelli Community Member Follow
Because nothing says summer like frozen veggies in mayonnaise.
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#28
Noodle Ring (The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, 1980)
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Hippopotamuses Hippopotamuses Community Member Follow
Couldn’t they find the aspic that day?
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#29
Fun At The Fair Cake (Wilton Yearbook 1977 Cake Decorating)
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Brittania Kelli Brittania Kelli Community Member Follow
Why were these cake people so obsessed with clowns? I get serious Gacy vibes from these cakes.
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#30
Clown Cake (1989 Wilton Yearbook Cake Decorating!)
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SCamp SCamp Community Member Follow
That should be Klown. It’s evil
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Note: this post originally had 99 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
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Depressed Owl Depressed Owl Community Member Follow
A lot of these did not deserve to be on this list.
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JoMeBee JoMeBee Community Member Follow
Agreed, The cakes are fugly but wouldn't taste bad. Now the fish/jello pairings on the other hand.. 🤢
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Mavis Mavis Community Member Follow
I have to say the skill involved with the Wilton cakes is very impressive.
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Corvus Corvus Community Member Follow
Most of these aren't bad at all, just unusual (from a modern perspective). In fact, we've probably eaten something like the shown foods when we were kids (I know for sure we had quite a few jelly-based desserts at home). I'd love to sample many of these dishes.
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Šimon Špaček Šimon Špaček Community Member Follow
Yes. And gelatine or aspic is great thing for your hair, nails, skin and joints. That reminds me that I should get some pork skins and make something amazing once again.
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Depressed Owl Depressed Owl Community Member Follow
A lot of these did not deserve to be on this list.
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JoMeBee JoMeBee Community Member Follow
Agreed, The cakes are fugly but wouldn't taste bad. Now the fish/jello pairings on the other hand.. 🤢
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Mavis Mavis Community Member Follow
I have to say the skill involved with the Wilton cakes is very impressive.
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Corvus Corvus Community Member Follow
Most of these aren't bad at all, just unusual (from a modern perspective). In fact, we've probably eaten something like the shown foods when we were kids (I know for sure we had quite a few jelly-based desserts at home). I'd love to sample many of these dishes.
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Šimon Špaček Šimon Špaček Community Member Follow
Yes. And gelatine or aspic is great thing for your hair, nails, skin and joints. That reminds me that I should get some pork skins and make something amazing once again.
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